A blog with lots of Luftwaffe pics

[Marc-André Haldimann]

Good evening,

I just stumbled on quite an incredible blog which holds hundreds of Luftwaffe pictures, generally well scanned.

http://anonymous-generaltopics.blogs...label/Fw%20190

After checking out only my personal favs (Me 109 and FW 190 D), I must say it's one of those rare times when you feel like at christmas unpacking your long expected gems...

Have an excellent week!

Marc

[FalkeEins]

..yes they are all very well scanned ....

..you are joking of course...don't you think that if sites like that are 'allowed' to exist, people eventually won't bother publishing books....

[Dan O'Connell]

Agree Fa......wonderful representation, but NO credits are shown. The same for most of the 262 photos.

[Marc-André Haldimann]

Falkeeins and Dan,

OFC, you're both correct, no credits except the ones which were already inserted on the original scans. And worse, almost no legends for any pictures.
The only actual benefit - for me - is to hint at some new photographs of late-war Luftwaffe types. I wonder who this "Anonymous" might be...

Does this condemn the whole blog, or would it be useful to contact is't creator and raise the copyright issue? The same site with credits and state of the art legends would be a real yonder.

Marc

[edwest]

Gentlemen,


Please do complain. A few years back, our computer expert found one our company's books scanned cover to cover on a "file sharing" site. This did not cause us to go out of business but it is of great importance that people in general, especially kids with too much time and access to the internet, get told stealing is wrong. As it is, all of their peers are leading them into "it's OK to steal land."


Regards,
Ed

[Jan Bobek]

Believe me or not,

if new issue of REVI magazine is issued, in less than 24 hours it is avaiable as illegal scan on Russian website.
I strongly believe that the copying stuff is done by Czech(s) and most people who download it are Czechs as well.

[Marc-André Haldimann]

Ed, Jan, Peter and to all interested,

What shall one say? Of course, all this material without any source is plain and obvious breaching of all copyright laws. Even when sourced like you do, Peter, every pic we so gladly like to share with fellow enthusiasts or experts does contribute to those breaches. Let's now consider the options:

1) You rule out any kind of reposted document. Net result: the forum dies out rather quickly, as the proof element, picture, profile or originals scanned, simply disappears, making discussions pointless.

2) You abide by the rule of citing your source, and thus, ethically, you stand true not only to your line, but tot the general and fundamental line which guides all historians delving with the past, or even on a broader base, all the scientific community. A source which is clearly stated is a source which can be used, be it for criticizing or for endorsing the statements and documents it conveys, and most important for us, the way it is interpreted. Your line of action is ethically totally correct and the the steadfastness of you ALWAYS asking for the source can only be lauded. Source citation means a possibility for the source to complain if it feels plundered. On the reverse, on the user side of your website, it gives to all of us the chance to look at the source and thus discover it; in my case quite often, and given enough funds, it ends up by buying the book. This is not the worse issue business wise, isnt'it?

As for the website I found, the mass of photographic documentation is overwhelming and it looks just fine at a first glance. It is only on a closer examination that one notices there are strictly no captions for ANY of the pictures online, not even speaking of the original sources. What is the net result? A blank site which can't possibly be useful as there is no research on the documents it presents. Does this really harm the serious researcher? I'm not sure of that, as the stolen picture is given as is. It cannot thus be possibly used beyond the intent of the original researcher except by persons having bought the original book...

Capitalizing on those bases of ethics, those fraudulous sites - or the fact of posting a copyrighted picture with source given - might not be as harmfuly as it seems to be. What would research be without all those thousands of yet to study pictures which are out there on Ebay or Tonelli auctions, etc, and are getting publicized be it here or on TOCH....? If we accept the idea all source ocuments are basically for everyone to see, the follow up of this statement would be the creation of a huge pool of all those pictures which would be THE formidable reference base from which all authors might start or develpp their research, publishing them together with the fruit of their own research. in prints which would be apis for by all the readers. Would this be a path for an "ideal" future? I know I might be an utopist, but open source for the research is essential by meaning exactly what it says: without accessible sources, whatever they are, no research...

Sincerely

Marc

[edwest]

As a researcher myself, the pre-internet age was somehow workable. Somehow, books were published. Somehow, pictures were found. The images that are available at auction sites are there for all to see. It is like window shopping. The products, and that is what they are, are presented to all who might have an interest. Ethics starts with you or me. Of course, researchers have a chance to see images they might never had seen otherwise, but what is wrong with the rather simple idea of getting permission? Too much work? Hardly. Assuming those images were culled from say, 50 sites, that's 50 emails out in a day or two. But I know I speak to a generation who may have never written a letter.

And for those publishers who want to make money on the internet with copyrighted images? The problem extends even to comic books.

http://comicscommentary.blogspot.com...n-against.html

It is nice that the internet provides access, but we are not living in a no-limits world. If we are to peacefully co-exist with our neighbors, whether nations, cities or individuals, we should not steal what rightly belongs to someone else. We communicate, ask permission and build relationships.


Best,
Ed

[Falcon]

The bf 109 photos on this blog are mostly old and more then 5-10 years in the web available. So just keep cool... the times are changing...

[FalkeEins]

..
you haven't spotted any of yours on there yet then David ?